Clever and Stylish Ideas for Maximizing Small Bathroom Spaces
Small bathrooms are an invitation for creativity, proving that limited space can still deliver style and functionality.
With clever storage solutions, space-enhancing color schemes, and innovative layouts, you can transform even the tiniest bathroom into a tranquil retreat.
Whether you’re optimizing a cozy apartment or refreshing a compact powder room, these small bathroom ideas offer inspiration to make every inch count.
1. Innovative Corner Design Small Bathroom Ideas
How do you create storage when you can barely fit the main elements in the bathroom? This is a common challenge in small master bathrooms that need to function for everyday life, which is where a corner shower comes into play.
A popular solution is to hang bathroom shelves on the walls. You could mount them above the toilet, next to the vanity mirror, or above the tub.
If you’re doing a bathroom remodel, you can install some built-in shelving. These are alcoves built into the shower space or a wall. They give you shelf space for storage that won’t stick out in the room.
2. Full Bathroom Ideas With Tubs and More
It’s challenging to organize a full tub in a small bathroom because a standard-sized tub requires significant floor space. It will take up a significant amount of floor space in a smaller bathroom. Because of this, your first step is to figure out where to place the tub.
If the bathroom is wide enough, place the tub across the furthest wall from the door. If the bathroom isn’t wide enough, you’ll have to turn the tub to run parallel with the longest wall.
You need a way of keeping the water contained when showering in the tub. A shower curtain is a standard approach. But it’s also clunky and creates a solid wall that deceivingly shrinks the size of the room. Instead, place a half wall of glass on the edge of the tub where the showerhead is.
3. pace-Enhancing Narrow Bathroom Designs
Narrow bathrooms are a unique challenge. Their slender proportions can make the bathroom feel tight and uncomfortable. There are a few small bathroom floor plan ideas that can help avoid this.
Look for a shallow vanity and a smaller sink that doesn’t extend out from the wall much. A good solution is to choose a trough-style sink that is long and skinny against the wall. Then on the other wall, you can mount a towel rack that sits more flush to the wall. Keep the towel rail below your eyeline to keep it from feeling closed in.
Hanging a large bathroom mirror on one of the bathroom walls can make the room feel bigger. It gives the illusion that the space continues, thanks to the reflection. Just don’t add a mirror to both walls because two mirrors facing each other will create a weird infinite void of reflections.
4. Charming Powder Room & Half Bathroom Concepts
A guest bathroom is a perfect room to create a half bathroom nook. You need enough space for a toilet and a sink. You don’t need a large vanity with lots of counter space because guests only use powder room sinks to wash their hands.
Make a statement in your half bath by using bold or patterned floor tile. Or you could use a bold patterned wallpaper for your small bathroom design.
One nice touch to your half bathroom is to include a medicine cabinet. Then you can have some bathroom storage space for the essentials that your guests might need.
5. Compact Bathrooms for RVs, Yachts, and Tiny Homes
The ultimate in tiny bathrooms are those on yachts, RVs, and tiny homes. One trick is to eliminate the barriers. Instead of a full shower, consider just the corner shower pan and a curved shower curtain bar that encloses the shower space.
You could take a page from the yachting world and make the entire bathroom water-safe. Use tile on the walls and floor, so it’s easy to clean and dry. Stand in the middle of the bathroom, and the entire space becomes the shower. When you’re done, you can wipe the wet surfaces, and it’s a regular bathroom again.
Don’t forget about storage. You can mount corner shelves where two walls meet. Or create storage by building a box around the toilet, sink, or tub.
Take inspiration from RVers and install a corner vanity with a small sink. Then you can hang a corner medicine cabinet with a mirror above it.
6. Optimal Layouts for Small Bathrooms
When designing your small bathroom, choose the right layout for the space the room has to offer. If you get it wrong, the bathroom will feel cramped and awkward, no matter how well you decorate it.
The tub is the largest piece, so start there. You’ll need to decide if you have enough room for a tub or have to stick with a shower stall. You may have to skip the shower or bathtub entirely and build a half bath.
The “three-in-a-row” layout is a standard setup for a 5×8 bathroom. All three fixtures are in a line along one wall. The three-in-a-row style works well when the door is on the short end. If the room is square or the door is in the middle of the long wall, you’ll want to split up the pieces. You could have the tub and toilet on one wall and the sink on the other. Any other combination might work as well.
If your bathroom is in the 5×6 range, then opt for a corner shower. A corner shower will give you enough room for the shower door to open and not hit the sink or toilet.
7. Creative Full Bathroom Designs for Limited Space
When you need to fit a full bath’s features into a small amount of space, it helps to choose scaled-down pieces that fit the space. Choosing smaller fixtures can help to ensure you’ll be able to fit a toilet, sink, and shower into a small space.
You don’t have a lot of leeway when it comes to toilets, but you can aim for one on the smaller side. Consider using a pedestal sink or one that mounts, or floats, on the wall. This will keep the bulk down and keep the space feeling open.
Skip the tub and install a small shower instead. You can install a shower pan and use a sheet of shower glass to divide the space from the rest of the bathroom. This will keep the rest of the bathroom dry, while also allowing the eye to see the bathroom’s entire size. When you can see the far wall by looking through the shower, it can trick your brain into thinking the bathroom is bigger than it actually is.
If you can install a window and a large mirror, you’ll have plenty of natural light spread around the room.
8. Embracing Modern Aesthetics
Modern design trends lend themselves well to smaller bathrooms. Stick with clean lines and solid colors. This will help you avoid busy patterns that can close in a space.
Look for ways you can skip the lighting fixtures and install hidden lighting features instead. This might mean using a bright white LED strip lighting along an edge. The light can shine upward towards the ceiling and give the illusion that it’s taller than it is. Or perhaps the light shines downward and highlights other details and features of the bathroom. You can even consider installing some trendy shower lighting.
Look for a floating vanity with an included sink. The space under the vanity keeps the bathroom feeling large. The floating vanity is a modern design feature and increases the storage capacity of a small bathroom.
Another signature feature of a modern bathroom is floating shelves. They’re sleek and look clean on the wall while also providing you with storage.
9. Elegant Sink Options for Compact Bathrooms
When you have a small bathroom, you need to scale down the fixtures. A full-sized sink will be too big. Instead, look for a small sink that will fit in the space.
A small round sink will be an elegant accent. Or choose a rectangle-shaped sink. This will give you more room without restricting the amount of floor space in the bathroom.
Don’t go too small with the sink, though. Adults need to be able to wash their hands in it without splashing water everywhere.
If you need to save even more space, consider mounting the faucet to the side of the sink or on the wall above it. This will move the sink back and closer to the wall.
Another thing to consider is how you’ll mount the sink on the wall. You could choose a pedestal or floating sink and skip the vanity altogether. If you’d like a vanity, you could have one that floats. You can also consider a standing vanity that’s open underneath. These options will keep the space feeling more open.
10. Clever Storage Solutions for Small Spaces
How do you create storage when you can barely fit the main elements in the bathroom? This is a common challenge in small master bathrooms that need to function for everyday life.
A popular solution is to hang shelves on the walls. You could mount them above the toilet, next to the vanity mirror, or above the tub.
If you’re doing a bathroom remodel, you can install some built-in shelving. These are alcoves built into the shower space or a wall. They give you shelf space for storage that won’t stick out in the room.
FAQs
Can I use more than one corner piece in a single bathroom?
Yes, you can! If you have a small square-shaped space, it might be ideal for a corner shower and a corner toilet, in separate corners, of course. Then place a small sink next to the toilet. You’ll have enough space for the door to swing inward and to move around in the bathroom.
How do I make a small bathroom feel upscale or luxurious?
Just because a bathroom is small doesn’t mean it has to be budget. Elevate the feel of your bathroom by using luxury and expensive materials. You could use marble tile for the shower walls or have a marble countertop. Or you could have an intricate mosaic tile design for the floor or an accent wall. Use glass for the wall and door on the bathtub or shower.
What’s the best color for a small bathroom?
You can’t go wrong with an all-white theme bathroom. Paint the walls white and choose a white sink, toilet, and shower. Then use white tile. White can be stark and boring, though. Don’t be afraid to use a bold color in your small bathroom. A vibrant magenta, teal, plum, red, blue, or copper can look stunning in a small space.
